Headache and prolonged dilatation of the middle meningeal artery by PACAP38 in healthy volunteers

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of PACAP, published as a randomized controlled trial.

To explore a possible relationship between vasodilatation and delayed headache the researchers examined the effect of pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide-38 (PACAP38) on the middle meningeal artery (MMA) and middle cerebral artery (MCA) using high resolution magnetic resonance angiography (MRA).

Who Took Part

The study group was 14 volunteers.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were young adults and adults, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

The volunteers were allocated by chance, so the PACAP group and the comparison group should start out alike.

As a double-blind PACAP study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

The comparison arm used a placebo, so changes seen with PACAP could be set against what happens without it.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Blood Pressure, Carbon Dioxide, Headache, Heart Rate, Magnetic Resonance Angiography, Meningeal Arteries and Middle Cerebral Artery.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of PACAP in 14 volunteers.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 6 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2012 (Cephalalgia : an international journal of headache), a journal based in England.

More context: the PACAP compound page, all human trials.